Abbey of Fulda
The Abbey of Fulda was an abbey based in Fulda in eastern Hesse, Germany. The abbey was founded in 744 and was made a diocese in 1752. The early abbey (744 - 968) In order to convert Germany to Christianity, St Boniface established the church heirarchy which dominated during the Middle Ages. While this was relatively thorough in the south of the country, to further spread the religion further north he enlisted St Sturmius to find a suitable location for a monastery. After a wide journey, St Sturmius decided on a location on the Fulda River in the Grabfeld district of the Buchonian forest. St Boniface petitioned the ruler of the surrounding land to allow the construction of the monastery. Not only did he yield to the request, but he also forced surrounding nobility to make grants to the new abbey. On 12 March 744, St Sturmius raised the cross at the site and became the first abbot. The rule was modelled on that of Monte Cassino, to which St Sturmius travelled to in 748 to properly learn. Pope Zachary made the new abbey exempt to under the Holy See in a document whose authenticity has been occasionally questioned, but the exemption was recognised by King Pepin the Short in 753. St Boniface made the new abbey a centre of pilgrimage by having his remains interred there. The abbey thrived under aSt Sturmius' rule, and colonies which later became towns and villages were quickly established. Fulda quickly became the mother house to a wide range of other monasteries. The many gifts of kings and many noblemen so quickly that the abbey ruled lands throughout Germany: in Swabia, Lotharingia, Bavaria, Thuringia, Hesse, Saxony, East Frisia, along the Rhine and even the church of St Andrea in Rome. Construction and beautification of the monastic buildings was undertaken by St Sturmius' successors so that Fulda became the model of architecture and art throughout Western Europe. The monastic school taught both theology and secular lessons. Particularly during the reign of the Abbot Rabanus Maurus (822 - 842), the school was among the foremost throughout Europe. The Abbey (968 - 1513) The abbey gradually obtained a commanding position in the German kingdom. From 968 the abbots were the primates of all Benedictine abbeys in Germany and Gaul. From the reign of the Emperor Otto I, the abbots were the arch-chancellors of the empresses and thery jointly crowned them with the Archbishops of Mainz. During the 12th Century the abbots were made "Princes of the Empire" and from 1182 obtained the privilege of sitting on the emperor's left. In 1260 the abbey's banner was held by a knight. But this rise in secular importance corresponded with a decline in religious observance. By the time of the Abbot Marquard I (1150 - 1165), the devotion of the monks had declined so much that he was compelled to introduce the regulations of Hirsau (the Consuetudines Hirsaugienses). The school had also declined considerably. The great wealth of the abbey, obtained through tithes and their considerable lands, brought increasing numbers of noblemen to the abbey. By the 12th Century the monks of noble birth had monopolised all seats in the chapter, all offices in the abbey of importance, and all the provostships of the numerous daughter-houses. The difficulty in administering all the territories induced the abbots to grant territories in fief to other nobles. This resulted in heavy losses as the feudatories used the lands for their own personal interests and sought to make their fiefs private property. In the fourteenth Century during the reign of Abbot Henry VI of Hohenberg (1315 - 1353), the monastery itself was attacked by Count John I during an insurrection of the city of Fuldas' burghers. Furthermore their obligations as princes of the empire also proved detrimental to the abbey and its inmates. In 1300 the abbey was forced to create a separate table for a convent. Imperial capitulations, especially that of 1395 transferred almost all authority over all affairs to the chapter dean. The later Abbey (1513 - 1752) In 1513 conditions had decreased so bad in nearby Hersfeld Abbey that it was attached to Fulda. Reformed preachers entered Fulda early and Abbot John III of Henneberg (1529 - 1541) was forced to sign a decree favourable to the spread of Lutheranism. Abbot Balthasar of Dernbach (1570 - 1606) was an ardent suppoerter of the Counter-Reformation. In 1576 he was banished from Fulda by the chapter and their allies and was unable to return until 1602, during this time the Catholic administrators of the Teutonic Order had done much to re-Catholicise. A similar energy was undertaken by Abbot John Bernhard Schenk of Schweinsberg (1623 - 1632) who with the assistance of papal visitors obtained a certain measure of authority over the chapter and professors of noble birth. After their departure in 1627, the chapter and provosts rebelled against his measures which were quickly confirmed by the Holy See. The chapter still held the right to admit only members from nobility, a right confirmed in 1731. The abbey was again threatened during the Thirty Years' War (1618 - 1648). In 1631 Landgrave WIlliam V of Hesse-Cassel occupied the abbey as a fief of the King of Sweden and sought to make Protestantism dominant. He lost all power over the abbey after his defeat at the Battle of Nördlingen. After the war ended, Fulda entered a period of peace and prosperity. In 1732 the Benedictine and Jesuit schools were united and enlarged to form a university. On 5 October 1752 Pope Benedict XIV converted the abbey into a diocese. The monastic organisation was maintained, and the abbey chapter became the cathedral chapter. See also *Bishopric of Fulda *List of Abbots of Fulda *List of Bishops of Fulda Category:Imperial Abbeys Category:Estates of the Holy Roman Empire